


Learning

by JWade



Series: Blind [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-18 13:38:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 21,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13101312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JWade/pseuds/JWade
Summary: Now that they've found each other, Sam and Gabriel are learning about each other and how to function together in their new circumstances.





	1. Chapter 1

While Sam was teaching Gabriel braille, they also sprinkled in a lot of light conversation. “How long are you here for?” Sam asked curiously. 

“As long as you want me to be,” Gabriel told him with a smile and hoped that it didn’t make him sound completely hopeless. 

“You don’t have to get back for anything?” Sam asked confused. “What do you do?” He knew by the fact that Gabriel had a halfway decent apartment and didn’t seem to be sharing with anyone that he either had a job or someone else was paying his way. 

“Nah. I always leave the month of January free just in case of this situation. I do have a few commissions to do next month, but really I could do them anywhere,” Gabriel told him. “I’m an artist,” he explained. 

“What kind of art?” 

“Paintings mostly. The occasional sculpture when the mood hits,” Gabriel told him, and he saw Sam’s face fall for a moment before it picked back up. He knew what Sam was thinking. He couldn’t enjoy Gabriel’s work if he couldn’t see the paintings. Gabriel resolved himself to find a way. He’d never really looked into the matter before, but he was sure there was a way somewhere. It might just take him some time to figure out and modify his methods to incorporate it. He didn’t want to say anything yet and get Sam’s hopes up though. There was one thing he could offer though. “Maybe I’ll do you a sculpture if you want?”

“I would love that,” Sam said with a grin, turning back to the book. “Can you read that word?” he asked pulling Gabriel’s fingers over one of the starter words for the A-F section. 

Gabriel felt over it for a few moments before he guessed, “Face?” 

“Close,” Sam said with a smile. “Fade. You missed the third dot in the D.”

Gabriel felt over it again a little more carefully. “Okay. Yeah. I feel it now.”

“Try this one,” Sam said moving him to the next word. 

It only took Gabriel a few minutes before he said, “Feed?” 

“Perfect,” Sam praised. 

Gabriel grinned. This would take a lot of practice before it became second nature and take less than a day to read a page, but it would be worth it in the end. “So, what do you do?” he asked curiously, hoping he wasn’t hitting a sore spot with the question. Technically Sam could just be getting disability and live off of that. This was a pretty nice house on a disability income, but he might have inherited it or something. 

Sam just grinned and pulled Gabriel a little tighter. Most people just assumed that he lived off the government and didn’t work, so it was nice to have someone that understood that being blind didn’t mean being useless. Not that his job was particularly glamorous, but it was something. “I’m a telemarketer,” he told him. 

Gabriel laughed for a moment, before stopping himself at the hurt look on Sam’s face. “No, it’s not that. It’s just…when I was looking for your phone I was planning to call the last number and my first thought was hoping it wasn’t a telemarketer.” Sam laughed a bit at that too. It was rather ironic. “So do you work from home or in a call center?” he asked curiously. 

“I work from home,” Sam told him. “I have a few more days off, but after that…” Sam trailed off trying to figure how to put it politely. 

“Be quiet while you’re working,” Gabriel finished for him. 

“Yeah, pretty much,” Sam chuckled. 

“I would think you’d be working more with the holidays rather than getting time off,” Gabriel asked curiously. 

“We do. We actually work craploads of overtime in December, but once the holidays are over everyone is broke by then, so everyone gets one week in January off to make up for it. I happened to be in the group to get the first week off this year,” Sam told him, leaving out the part where he was pretty sure it was intentional given that he just passed his 22nd birthday. 

“Okay, that makes sense,” Gabriel admitted. He was still on his holiday high, given the circumstances, so it hadn’t quite dawned on him that they were over. “What do you sell?” 

“Home security,” Sam told him. “Alarm systems, closed circuit cameras, panic rooms, stuff like that.”

“Should I be worried that you don’t seem to trust your own products?” Gabriel joked not seeing any security in this house. 

Sam laughed and said, “Alarm systems are rather pointless when I have a brother that just barges in whenever he feels like it. Besides, this is a nice neighborhood and I’m told I’m a huge guy. Blind or not, nobody’s gonna mess with me.”

“I can see that,” Gabriel said with a laugh. “I definitely wouldn’t want to meet you in a dark alley.” They worked over a few more words before Gabriel asked, “So you and your brother are close then?” 

“Very,” Sam told him. “Our dad was never around much after our mom died when I was a baby, and when he was around he was usually drunk. Dean was the one who raised me. He was four years old raising a blind baby brother. I still don’t know how he managed, but he did. Even talked Dad into homeschooling him for the first few years so he could stay with me until I went off to school. Not that Dad actually did anything other than buy him the books, of course.”

“Wow. Your dad sounds like a piece of work. I’m very much looking forward to meeting your brother though.”

“Yeah, he is. I haven’t talked to him since I graduated high school and moved out. My mom left me this house from her parents and I claimed it the second I was old enough,” Sam told him. “You’ll probably meet Dean today. He’s supposed to be stopping by at some point with his husband Cas. He’s bringing me a new chair and lamp,” Sam teased gently. 

Gabriel blushed brightly, suddenly glad that Sam couldn’t see him, not realizing that Sam could still feel the heat from his face. “Sorry about that,” he said sheepishly. 

Sam just laughed heartily. “You’re sorry for not knowing how to get around while suddenly blind in a strange place you’ve never seen before?” He felt Gabriel shrug. “Like I could ever hold that against you,” he said shaking his head and kissing Gabriel’s forehead. 

“Still. I’m sure you’re pretty sore,” Gabriel told him. 

“I’ve had much worse,” Sam said with a chuckle. “I even got hit by a car once,” he told his soulmate. 

“What happened?” Gabriel asked wide-eyed. 

“I was at a crosswalk and I heard the ding for walk, so I started to cross, not realizing that there was a car coming that hadn’t quite managed to stop in time. I was okay, just some bumps and bruises and a sprained knee. He wasn’t going too fast. I just wish I could have seen the look on his face when he realized I was blind after yelling at me to ‘watch where I was going’” Sam laughed. 

Gabriel laughed with him. The best thing about this conversation, in his opinion, even more than getting to know his soulmate, was learning how he handled his blindness. He would imagine that some people were rather touchy about it, but Sam seemed more than happy to joke about it. That boded very well, since Gabriel tended to joke about everything. “Yes. How dare you not see that car coming,” Gabriel said mock-affronted, making Sam laugh harder. 

It was another hour of conversation interspersed with learning braille before the front door opened with a, “Heya, Sammy…” before the person coming in stopped in his tracks as he noticed the couple cuddling on the couch. 

“Like I said. Barges in,” Sam joked, grinning at his brother to show that he didn’t care. 

“Gabriel, I presume?” Dean said looking the short little blonde over. 

Gabriel took a steadying breath as he got up and held out his hand. “That’s me. You must be Dean.”

Dean took his hand, squeezing tightly and hoping this guy wouldn’t alert Sam to what he was doing. He gained at least a little bit of respect from Dean when he didn’t, and just squeezed Dean’s hand just as tightly with a bit of a smirk. “What’d you do? Hop a plane the second you got back to your own body?” Dean asked with a scoff. 

“Dean…” Sam warned. 

“Well, I would have, but the next flight wasn’t until about nine hours later, so I had to deal,” Gabriel quipped, not at all bothered by the sizing up. He knew he was going to have a rough go of it once Sam mentioned that his brother had also raised him. Factor in the extra overprotective because of his blindness, and Gabriel fully expected to have to prove himself. He did appreciate the hand on his back as Sam stepped up behind him though.


	2. Chapter 2

“Uh-huh,” Dean said, as Cas came in carrying the lamp. “This is my husband, Cas.” Gabriel and Cas greeted each other with far less hostility before Dean turned back to Sam. “I was able to find the same kind of chair you had, but the lamp is a little different. It’s the same height and width, but a little different shape so be careful with it for a while.”

“I will, Dean. Thanks,” Sam told him. 

“You realize it took me almost an hour to get this place back in order after you left,” he accused Gabriel. 

“Dean!” Sam said frustrated. 

“S’okay Sammy.” Gabriel told him. “He’s your brother. It’s his job to look out for you. You should have seen the hell I gave my brothers’ soulmates,” he said with a chuckle before turning back to Dean. “I am sorry about that,” he said honestly. “I’ve never been blind before, and I was more than a little panicked about not being able to leave a message, and I just didn’t think.”

That took Dean aback a bit. Both his easy acceptance of the attitude and the honest apology. He’d expected him to get defensive at the least. “So where are you staying?” Dean asked Gabriel as Cas went to put the lamp and chair where they belonged. 

“In the spare room,” Sam said before Gabriel could answer.

“I was planning to stay at The Oread, but Sam offered,” Gabriel told him, trying to make it clear that he wasn’t a freeloader and had plenty of money to make his own way. 

“The Oread huh? Fancy. What do you do that you can afford a place like that?” Dean asked with narrowed eyes. 

“I’m an artist,” Gabriel told him. 

“An artist?” Dean scoffed. 

Sam just sighed and resigned himself to the conflict. He did keep a hand on Gabriel’s back though, both for support and so he would be able to tell if Dean hit a nerve by how tense Gabriel was. He would put his foot down if it got that far, but in the meantime, it didn’t seem to be bothering Gabriel and maybe it would make Dean feel a little better. 

“Yes, actually. And rather successful at it,” Gabriel said pointedly. “I mean, I’m no DaVinci or Van Gough, of course, but I make a good living.”

Gabriel didn’t notice Cas elbow Dean and cut his head towards the coffee table where the braille primer was still sitting out and that brought Dean up short. “You’re learning braille?” he asked, as the heat drained from his voice. 

“Working on it. I have a feeling it’s gonna be a long process,” Gabriel said with a chuckle. 

Dean was feeling a lot better about this guy now, but he still needed to be sure. “Okay. Well. If you’re gonna be staying in the spare room, I’ll just go grab by stuff out of it,” Dean said. 

Sam shot him a warning look as Gabriel just said a cheerful, “Sure.” He wasn’t an idiot. He knew that Dean had every intention of snooping through his stuff, but he had nothing to hide. Just his computer, a sketch book and charcoals that he never went anywhere without, some clothes, and the books he’d brought. 

When Dean came out a few minutes later, carrying something that Gabriel was pretty sure he pulled out of his pocket when he went in there, he decided to spill the beans to Sam. He was feeling a lot better about Gabriel now, but wanted to make sure that Sam had his eyes open. “So, I saw your books,” he told Gabriel. 

“Never intended to hide them,” Gabriel said with a shrug. He could feel Sam starting to tense up so he added, “Wouldn’t have left them sitting on the nightstand if I had.” He was sure that Dean had given more than a cursory look, but there was no need to make that obvious to Sam at the moment. 

“What books?” Sam asked curiously, now that he knew that Gabriel wouldn’t mind answering. 

“A how to book about adjusting to blind people and those memoir thingys you had me buy a few years ago. ‘Planet of the Blind’,” Dean said before Gabriel could. 

Sam gave Gabriel a fond look and Gabriel took his hand. “Like I said. I want to see the world the way you do.” 

Sam leaned down and kissed him for that and that was all Dean needed to see. At least for now. He still intended on cornering Gabriel alone at some point and giving him a real third degree, but he’d seen enough for the moment. “So. you’re an artist huh? Your sketches are pretty good,” Dean said finally sitting down next to Cas on the loveseat and Gabriel and Sam sat on the couch. 

“Another thing that was just ‘left out in plain sight’?” Sam asked making it clear that he wasn’t fooled or happy. 

Dean’s face paled a bit at that. He hadn’t even considered it when he mentioned it. He was therefore surprised when Gabriel said, “Out enough.” He turned to look at Gabriel curiously to get a respectful nod in response. It seemed that Gabriel wasn’t going to spill the beans that the sketch pad had been in the top drawer of the bedside table underneath his computer. “And thanks. The sketches are mostly just ideas to hold me over until I can get to a full canvas and paint.”

“So, you usually just paint?” Cas asked curiously, jumping into the conversation now that all the sizing up was done. 

“Mostly. I sculpt a bit from time to time too,” Gabriel told them. “I already promised to sculpt something for Sam,” he said looking up at his soulmate with a besotted look on his face.

Dean finally got the hint that he might just be intruding, so he said, “Right. Well. I guess we’ll leave you two to get to know each other,” he said getting up. He leaned over to hug Sam whispering something in his ear that Gabriel couldn’t hear, but he did see Sam blush brightly before Dean shook his hand and he and Cas left. 

Once they were alone, Sam turned to Gabriel. “Does it…um…bother you being in the spare room?” Sam asked nervously. “I mean, I know you’re my soulmate and all but I’ve never…um…”

“Neither have I, Sammy. I’m good with it. Really. We’ll get there when we get there,” Gabriel told him, getting an idea of that his brother must have said. 

Sam knew that a lot of people preferred to wait for their soulmates before taking that step, but he was slightly surprised that Gabriel was one of them. He just seemed so outgoing and fun. Not to mention… “You said you’d been waiting a while for the switch. How old are you?” he asked curiously. 

“I’m 29,” Gabriel said a little embarrassed. “I know it’s kinda sad, but really I was only going to give it one more year before I gave up on the idea of a soulmate and just said screw it,” he tried to justify being an almost thirty-year-old virgin. 

“It’s not sad,” Sam told him, brushing a hand over his cheek. “I think it’s sweet.” Gabriel smiled. “I’m glad that you waited. It will be nice to learn together,” Sam said still blushing, but wanting to make sure that Gabriel knew that.

“That’s why I did,” Gabriel said tilting his head up to press a soft kiss to Sam’s lips. The first one he’d initiated, and it was Sam’s turn to melt into it, and this time he moved to deepen it. Gabriel gladly opened for the probing tongue as Sam’s hand moved from his cheek to the back of his neck, and Gabriel’s hand went to Sam’s side. Both were breathless when it ended, but neither of them pushed things further. They were content to just be.

When Gabriel curled back up to Sam’s side, he started the conversation again with something that he should have said as soon as Dean left, if his off-color comment hadn’t distracted him. “I’m sorry about Dean.”

“Don’t worry about it, Sammy,” Gabriel brushed it off. “It’s perfectly understandable and it’s not like he really crossed a line or anything.”

“Going through your stuff isn’t crossing a line?” Sam asked pointedly. He didn’t buy that the sketchbook had been laying out for a second. 

“It’s not like he broke into my apartment and started rummaging around. It’s just the little bit I brought with me. He didn’t even hack into my computer. I’m guessing at least. He wasn’t really in there long enough for all that. It’s not like I brought anything secret.”

“Still,” Sam said with a shrug, agreeing to drop it, but still annoyed as crap at Dean. It’s not like he gave Cas a hard time when he came sniffing around. 

“Your brother’s just worried about you,” Gabriel told him. “Seems like he’s spent his whole life worried about you. He can’t just turn it off at the drop of a hat.” That’s when a different angle hit Gabriel too. “Besides. He’s had you to himself your whole life practically. The idea of having to share you is probably gonna take some getting used to.”

“Yeah, I guess. It still doesn’t make it right though,” Sam pointed out. 

“Maybe not. But it makes it understandable. Don’t be too hard on him,” Gabriel said gently. “I can take it,” he added knowing that the biggest reason it bothered Sam was the fear of it scaring Gabriel away.


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn’t long before Gabriel tried and failed to stifle a yawn. “Tired?” Sam asked sympathetically. 

“A little. Yeah. I only got a few hours this morning in all the excitement,” Gabriel admitted. 

“Go get some rest. We can hang out more tomorrow,” Sam told him, leaning down for another long, deep kiss. 

When it ended, they were both grinning widely. “Mhmm. Good night, Sammy,” Gabriel said in almost a whisper, pressing one more soft kiss to Sam’s lips before heading to the spare room and he was out like a light the second his head hit the pillow. 

Gabriel was woken the next morning by the ringing of his phone and he answered sleepily. “I thought you were going to call me and tell me how it went?” he heard his brother’s voice on the other end. 

“Sorry, Mikey,” Gabriel said apologetically. “We just got to talking and then I crashed pretty early. Didn’t get much sleep after the switch, you know?” 

“So, it’s going well then?” 

Gabriel didn’t realize that Sam’s sharp hearing could hear every word from where he was puttering around the kitchen working on breakfast as he answered. “It’s going amazing. Sam is amazing,” he said. 

“Well? Tell me about him. What’s he like?” Michael asked curiously. 

“Well he’s very kind, independent, strong. Not to mention drop dead gorgeous,” Gabriel said, and Sam couldn’t help the grin that pulled onto his face. There was a pause before Sam heard, “Well he’s super tall, long light brown hair…like shoulder length…you know what? Why don’t I just try to get a selfie to send you?” Sam couldn’t help but chuckle at that as he set the bacon in the pan before turning to whip the eggs. It was only a moment later when he heard the subject that he’d half expected to be one of the first things Gabriel told whoever he was talking to. “Well I wouldn’t call it an obstacle exactly. More of an adjustment. He’s blind…yeah, a very good thing,” Gabriel said with a laugh. “We’ll figure that part out,” he said after another long pause. “Yeah okay. I’ll talk to you later Mikey. Sorry I forgot to call you last night.” 

Gabriel, by now, could smell the bacon so he headed out of his room, seeing Sam standing over the stove. “Morning, Samshine,” he said walking over and placing a hand on Sam’s arm so he would know he was there before leaning up for a kiss. “Breakfast smells great.”

“Thanks,” Sam said with a grin. He had no intention of hiding the fact that he could overhear Gabriel’s phone call, and the fact that he was curious just made it even less likely. “What’s a very good thing and what part do we need to figure out?” 

He heard Gabriel’s soft groan as his forehead hit Sam’s shoulder before he stepped away. “You heard that huh?” he asked blushing brightly. 

“Bad eyes, good ears,” Sam said with a bit of a chuckle. 

“Mikey…my oldest brother…said it was a good thing I wasn’t a slob, but mentioned the mess that my art supplies generally make when I’m working on a project,” Gabriel told him. 

“Well how big is your apartment?” Sam asked. “We could always just designate an art area for me to avoid.” There was little doubt that they would be moving in together at some point, so it wasn’t really out of place to be making those kinds of plans so soon. 

“My apartment is actually pretty small. I’ve never needed a lot of room. I was actually thinking I could move here…eventually…if that’s easier for you.”

“You don’t need to be…where do you live?” 

“San Francisco,” Gabriel told him. “And no. Not really. I can always send my stuff to the gallery, and most of my private work comes from online or phone calls when someone sees my stuff at the gallery. Most of the people who buy custom artwork are the type who have no qualms travelling if they want to see it in person, but I might need to make a short trip back from time to time. The nice thing about art is that you can do it anywhere.”

“If you’re sure it won’t inconvenience you, then yeah. Here is good,” Sam said relieved that he wouldn’t have to learn a new place after all. “Telemarketing I can also do anywhere though.”

“It wouldn’t inconvenience me much. A lot less than you moving out there and uprooting your life,” Gabriel said with a chuckle. 

“What about your family?” Sam asked. He only had Dean and Cas here after all. Gabriel had hinted at a rather large family. 

“My oldest brother is the only one who lives near me. He runs the San Francisco office. My Dad’s in LA along with my second oldest brother who’s a lawyer. My other brother is in New York, so we’re all spread out anyway.”

“Friends?” Sam asked. 

“I’ve got a decent group of friends, but I’ve only been in San Fran for a few years so it’s not like lifelong friendships or anything, and we can still keep in touch,” Gabriel told him, not particularly worried about it. He was the type who made friends easily so it wasn’t like he wouldn’t end up with plenty of friends here too. 

“Okay then. Here works,” Sam said with a grin. 

“Great. Do you have an attic or anything here?” Gabriel asked, circling back around to the main subject. 

“I do, but I’ve never been up there. Between the ladder and the sloped cielings, it’s not really blind friendly,” Sam joked. 

“Understandable. Maybe I could turn the attic into an art studio if you don’t mind? That way it’s not taking up any space you could be using for other things.”

“I think that’s a perfect idea,” Sam said with a grin, as he pulled the bacon out of the pan before scooping the eggs onto plates. 

“Thanks for breakfast,” Gabriel said dropping a kiss on Sam’s lips before he sat down across from him. 

“Anytime,” Sam said with a grin. 

“Tomorrow’s my turn,” Gabriel told him. “I hope you like pancakes.”

“I love pancakes,” Sam said happily. “I’m just not so good at them,” he admitted. 

“Yeah I can see how they would be a little difficult for you. That’s okay though. I make a mean pancake, and I love to cook.”

“I look forward to trying them then,” Sam said reaching his hand across the table towards Gabriel’s voice, and smiling as Gabriel took it. “I was thinking maybe after breakfast we could take a walk and I can show you around town?” 

“That would be great,” Gabriel agreed, running his thumb over the back of Sam’s hand. Once they were done eating, Gabriel offered to do the dishes before they left. As Sam grabbed his cane from where it was hanging beside the door, Gabriel bit his lip nervously before he suggested, “Maybe I could lead you? I mean, still bring the cane just in case I suck at it, but it might be a fun trust exercise?” 

Sam’s lips quirked into a smile as he nodded and wrapped an arm over Gabriel’s shoulders, Gabriel’s arm going around Sam’s waist. “I got the stairs of the house though,” Sam told him, being the one to lead Gabriel that far. He kept the cane at his side, only intending to use it if needed, and it turned out it wasn’t really needed. Gabriel used the arm around his waist to steer him around both people and any other obstructions like signs or trees or poles. After a few blocks they reached the business part of town, and Sam started pointing out different places. “That’s the hardware store,” he told him, pointing as they passed by it. 

“How do you know?” Gabriel asked curiously, wondering if it was just knowing the distance or if there was more to it. 

Sam smiled and went into teacher mode. “When you don’t have sight, the other senses easily make up for the deficit. There’s more than one way to ‘see’ the world around you. Old Mr. Timmons uses one of the old style cash registers that has a very distinctive ding. Plus the smell of sawdust and varnish is slightly obvious.”

“Wow,” Gabriel told him. “Can you figure out everywhere like that?” he asked. 

“Yes and no. The clothing store next to it, I can’t tell for any reason other than that I know the clothing store is next to the hardware store, but there are enough distinctive places for me to usually know where I am and where to go,” Sam told him. 

“That’s amazing,” Gabriel said with a grin. He knew now more than ever that he’d made the right decision moving here rather than dragging Sam out to San Francisco. Not only would he have to learn a new city, but that particular one was confusing for those who could see. 

They spent a good few hours walking around, showing Gabriel the sights. “Around this next corner is a place I’m sure you’ll become very familiar with,” Sam said as they turned, and Gabriel’s eyes immediately lit on the art supply store. 

“Do you mind if we stop in for a bit?” Gabriel asked. 

“Was already planning on it,” Sam said with an indulgent smile. 

“Three stairs, two steps in front of you,” Gabriel told him as they turned to go in and Sam stumbled a bit on the bottom one, misjudging the distance without his cane, but Gabriel steadied him easily with a quiet, “Sorry.”

“Not your fault,” Sam said. “Stairs are tricky.” Once he had the location of the first the rest were easy though and they made it inside the store with no further trouble. “Go ahead and browse. I’ll just hang here,” Sam said as they got inside. 

Gabriel pressed a kiss to Sam’s cheek and disappeared into the aisles, looking for a few things in particular as Sam just walked around, with the help of his cane, running his hands over the different fabrics and ribbons, enjoying the feel of them. Gabriel was trying to be quick, and returned to Sam not twenty minutes later after purchasing a few pounds of clay, a set of sculpting tools, and a variety of paints. He intended to start on Sam’s sculpture in a few days, using that to kill the time while Sam was working.


	4. Chapter 4

By the time they left the art store it was lunchtime and Sam suggested a nice place around the corner, so Gabriel led him there. Once they were seated, Sam said, “So what kind of company do your dad and Michael run?” 

“An ad agency, or as I like to call it, the propaganda machine,” Gabriel said with a chuckle. 

“Do your other brothers work there too?” 

“Nope. Just Mikey. He’s the only one intending to follow in Dad’s footsteps. Luke does take care of all the legal needs of the business, but it’s just one of his many accounts. Ralph is a chemist, but he’s very hush hush on what exactly he does,” Gabriel told him. 

“How did they take you being an artist?” Sam asked curiously. It was very different from the high profile jobs the rest of his family had. 

“Dad didn’t take it so well until Mikey pointed out that I could help design ads. When I declined he basically cut me off. I do design some for Mikey every once in a while, but it’s all freelance stuff. I have no interest in working for the company. Luke just rolled his eyes and told me to get in touch with him if I ever want a ‘real job’. Ralph sneered at me and told me I was a waste of space, but that’s not surprising. He’s kind of a dick.” 

“So, you’re not close with your other brothers?” Sam asked. 

“I don’t know if I’d say that. Luke isn’t really bad. He just thinks art is a phase that I’ll grow out of. He’s not really mean about it. Ralph is a dick, like I said, but he usually manages to be nice enough the few times he’s around. We keep in touch and all, but I wouldn’t say we’re particularly close, no. Luke and Mike have always looked out for me though, being the baby of the family and all.”

“That’s good. I just have Dean. It’s always been just the two of us. Even when Cas came along. Cas is a great guy, he’s just rather…socially awkward. It doesn’t make it easy to get close to him,” Sam told him. 

“Yeah, I could tell. He did seem nice enough though,” Gabriel said. 

“Unlike Dean,” Sam said with a sigh and Gabriel laughed. 

“What does Dean do?” Gabriel asked seeing as they were doing the whole family history thing. 

“He’s a mechanic at Dad’s shop. Dad made him a partner years ago and when Dad dies he’ll get the whole thing,” Sam told him. 

“So, your dad is close with Dean but not with you?” Gabriel asked sadly. 

“Well Dad’s not really CLOSE with anyone but the bottle. He knows how to relate to Dean though. He’s never really known what to make of me and never really cared enough to make the effort,” Sam said with a shrug. 

“Can I ask…were you born blind or did something happen?” Gabriel asked curiously. 

“It was the incident that lost my mom. She died in a house fire when I was six months old. The fire started in my nursery and some burning embers fell in my eyes before he was able to get me to Dean and send us out,” Sam told him. 

Gabriel reached over and took Sam’s hand. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, it’s okay,” Sam said with a comforting smile. “It was a long time ago. But yeah, technically I could see at one point, but I don’t remember it. As far as I can remember, it’s always been like this.”

“Well, you handle it wonderfully,” Gabriel said rubbing his thumb over the back of Sam’s hand. “So, seeing through my eyes is the first time…”

“The first time I’ve ever seen anything. Your face was the first one I ever saw,” Sam said lifting Gabriel’s hand to his lips. 

“Now I really wish we could have stayed switched for longer,” Gabriel said sadly. 

“You wished that before?” Sam asked incredulously. After all the trouble Gabriel seemed to have with being blind he would have thought the opposite. 

“Well, yeah. I would have like to experience more of what life is like for you. To understand a little more,” Gabriel told him.

“How are you so perfect?” Sam asked softly. 

Gabriel gave a little chuckle. “Oh, I’m far from perfect, Sammykins. I can almost guarantee you’ll be cursing me regularly soon enough.”

Sam laughed. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

It took Gabriel a second to pick up the double meaning but when he did, he nearly fell out of his seat in laughter. When they left the restaurant, Sam suggested heading to the park across the street to get the selfie that Gabriel’s brother wanted. Gabriel had completely forgotten about it, so he was grateful to Sam for remembering. After that, they headed back to Sam’s house and spent the remainder of the day talking about their lives and doing a little more braille work in the process. “I can’t help but wonder if it’s always this easy,” Sam said softly after a lingering kiss. 

“I don’t know,” Gabriel said. “Not always I don’t think. But when both people are open to it…maybe. We were made for each other after all.”

“Yeah but when I was made, I was…”

“Just as perfect as you are now,” Gabriel cut in, already knowing what Sam was going to say. “You could have been a blind, deaf, mute, quadriplegic and I still would have hopped the first plane out here because you’re mine.” Sam could feel the tears welling up in his eyes at that. “You’re my chance at everything I’ve ever dreamed of, and there is nothing that could make me throw that away.”

Sam wiped a tear from his eye as he said, “Sorry. I’m not usually so…self-conscious about being blind. I mean, it’s normal for me. I don’t know why I’m suddenly thinking about it so much.”

“I do,” Gabriel said softly, reaching up to run his thumbs over Sam’s cheeks so as to catch any more tears that fell. “Like you said, it’s normal for you. It’s normal for the people you interact with on a daily basis. I’m someone new coming into your life. Someone unknown, and YOUR chance for happiness. It’s perfectly normal to worry about how I’m going to fit, and to be scared that I won’t, but Sam. You don’t have to be. I will fit. I DO fit. And I’m not going anywhere. This is going to be an adjustment for both of us, but its one worth making, and nothing is going to change my mind on that.”

Sam was beyond words as he pulled Gabriel in for a searing kiss, letting his actions say what words couldn’t. That he was falling hard and fast for Gabriel, and that he desperately hoped that Gabriel was right. The next morning, Sam was woken by the smell of bacon and made his way out into the kitchen. “Good morning,” he announced himself. 

“Morning Samshine,” Gabriel said cheerfully. “Careful of the counter. I’ve got a bit of a mess there at the moment,” he warned, knowing that Sam would have no idea where he had things. Sam grinned at him and held out a hand wondering where exactly Gabriel was, and Gabriel reached out and took it, allowing Sam to follow his arm to find him and slide his arms around Gabriel’s stomach as he leaned over to smell the food. 

“Cinnamon, blueberries, and…Vanilla?” Sam guessed. 

“You’ve figured out my secret recipe!” Gabriel said mock-indignantly. 

Sam laughed and turned to kiss Gabriel’s cheek, but before he could move away, Gabriel’s hand grabbed his arms and he turned for a proper kiss. “It should be ready in about ten minutes,” Gabriel told him. 

“Did you get the butter and syrup and everything out yet?” Sam asked. 

“Not yet,” Gabriel told him and Sam moved to do that before sitting himself down at the table to wait. He didn’t have long to wait though before a plate was being slid in front of him. “Pancakes in the center. Bacon at twelve o’clock,” Gabriel told him getting a beaming smile from Sam. 

Gabriel watched to see if Sam might need any help buttering or cutting the pancakes, but he wasn’t going to offer unless he needed to. Sam knew his capabilities far better than Gabriel did after all. Apparently, Sam realized what Gabriel was doing though because it wasn’t long before he said, “I’m good, Gabe. Go ahead and eat. 

“How did you know?” Gabriel asked picking up his utensils and abandoning the vigil. 

“I heard you sit down, so I knew you were there, but I didn’t hear any chewing or cutting going on. I figured you were waiting to make sure I didn’t need any help, and I appreciate it, but I’m good.”

“Yeah, okay. I just wasn’t sure…”

“I’ve gotten pretty good over the years at asking for help if I need to. I mean…asking YOU will probably be difficult for a while, given the circumstances, but I will,” Sam promised. 

Gabriel didn’t need to ask why it would be difficult. The conversation from last night was still fresh on both their minds. “Good enough for me. As long as you know I’m always willing to help.”

Sam smiled at him and took the first bite of the pancakes before his eyes went wide. “That’s amazing!” he mumbled around the food in his mouth and then quickly chewed and swallowed. “Sorry. That’s amazing!” he said again now that his mouth was empty. 

Gabriel chuckled. “I’m glad you like them.” The rest of breakfast was spent with easy conversation and amusing banter before they finished, and Gabriel took Sam’s plate. “I’ll clean up and get the kitchen back in order for you.” He knew he’d made a bit of a mess, but he’d made mental notes of where everything went so he could put it back in the right places.


	5. Chapter 5

The rest of the week went well, Gabriel spending a little time each night before bed sketching ideas for Sam’s sculpture. He grabbed his computer to look up a few things on flower language to make sure he had the right message, not that Sam likely knew flower language, but that wasn’t the point. He wasn’t sure yet if he would tell Sam what the flowers meant. At least not right away, but he was sure he would eventually. Once he decided on the flowers and had each of them sketched individually, he was able to consider the overall design. 

Friday morning, Sam brought something up over breakfast. “So, Dean called me last night. He wanted to know if you wanted to come out for drinks tonight,” he said hesitantly. 

“Me or us?” Gabriel asked curiously. 

“You. I was very clearly not invited,” he said with a frown.

“Do you mind?” Gabriel asked, wondering if the frown was because he wasn’t invited or because he was worried about Dean being an ass. 

“I just don’t know why he wants to see you and not me,” Sam said. “He’s probably going to be a jerk. I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t want to go.”

Gabriel chuckled a bit. “I can handle him, Samsquatch,” Gabriel told him. “Remember, I’m not going anywhere, no matter what he does, and I’m gonna need to learn how to get along with your brother at some point. Maybe this will be good for us.”

Sam sighed. He knew that Gabriel had a point. “So, you’re going?” 

“Unless you have any objections,” Gabriel said. He wouldn’t go if doing so would alienate Sam after all. 

“No objections, but if he crosses a line…”

“I know, Sammykins. Don’t worry so much,” Gabriel said, pressing a reassuring kiss to Sam’s lips. “When and where does he want to meet me?” 

“Six at the pub on the corner,” Sam told him. 

“Okay. Tell him I’ll be there,” Gabriel said, not allowing his own nerves to show. This would be the big test. Dean wouldn’t have hit him in front of Sam, but tonight all bets would be off. Gabriel knew he was pretty scrappy. He’d had to be with three older brothers, but that would put him in the position of having to hurt Sam’s brother and that was a corner he really did not want to be backed into. He’d meant what he told Sam though. They would have to learn to get along eventually and if it took a fight to get them there, so be it. 

They spent the morning at the park and had a nice picnic there before heading back around mid-afternoon, and just lounged around until it was time for Gabriel to leave. Gabriel plastered on his game face before stepping into the bar and looked around for Dean, spotting him already sitting there with two shots in front of him. When Gabriel plopped down next to him, he slid one over without a word, and Gabriel wasted no time knocking it back at the same time as Dean downed his own before turning to look at Gabriel. “You need to understand something. My brother is the most important person in the entire world to me,” Dean said firmly. 

“I do understand that, and I have no intention of hurting him,” Gabriel told him. 

“If you do, they will never find your body,” Dean said dangerously. “Got it?” 

“If I’m ever that stupid, you’re the first person I’ll come looking for,” Gabriel said seriously, looking him straight in the eye. 

Dean narrowed his eyes at him for a moment before saying, “Good,” and turning back to order them two more shots. 

“Now it’s my turn,” Gabriel said before Dean could get too comfortable thinking the conversation was over and Dean turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow in surprise that this little guy was about to go toe to toe with him. “Your brother is very quickly becoming the most important person in the world to me. And I like to think that he feels the same. If YOU hurt him by interfering with that, I will destroy you, and don’t think I can’t.” He wasn’t going to threaten death. Not when that would hurt Sam more than anything else, but he could tear Dean’s life apart piece by piece until he had nothing left. Not that he would actually go that far, but he doubted Dean would go so far as murder either, so the threat still held. 

Dean held his eye for a moment before he nodded and lifted the second shot in salute. “Fair enough.” He downed the shot, watching Gabriel do the same. “Now that’s settled, I would love to hear more about the hell you gave your brothers’ soulmates,” he said with a laugh. 

“You think I’m gonna give you ideas?” Gabriel asked with his own laugh, but then launched into the story anyway. “I was only twelve when Mikey found his soulmate, and I didn’t handle it very well. Michael was the main one who raised me. Him and Luke, but Luke had already moved out, and I worried that him finding his soulmate would mean I was left alone, so I was a real terror. I even dumped a bucket of red paint on her at a fancy party my dad was hosting once.”

Dean laughed uproariously. “And she didn’t kill you?” he asked incredulously. 

“Oh, she tried,” Gabriel laughed along with him. “I was very fast. I have no idea how Michael managed to get her calmed down, but to this day, every time she sees me I get the evil eye. I was a little better when Luke found his soulmate, Meg, two years later. I didn’t give her any disastrous pranks like that, but I refused to speak to her at all for almost three years and I did kick her in the shins the one time she said I was ‘adorable’ and tried to give me a hug. Luke beat me up for that one, but I kinda deserved it.”

“Michael didn’t when you dumped the paint on his girl?” Dean asked surprised. 

“Not really. He yelled at me and slammed me around a bit, but I was just a kid and I don’t think he would have felt right actually beating me up,” Gabriel told him. “I was sixteen when I kicked Meg, and fair game for a beating.”

“That’s why you didn’t rat me out to Sam,” Dean guessed. 

“I figure what goes around comes around,” Gabriel said with a shrug. “But we’re good now right?” he asked hopefully. 

“As long as you toe the line with Sammy, yeah. We’re good,” Dean told him. 

“Good. Then I wanted to ask you something. Maybe this weekend you could help me clean out the attic in Sam’s house? Knowing that it came from your grandparents, I would feel better about having someone in the family there with me in case there are old family heirlooms or stuff up there,” Gabriel told him. 

“Why are you worried about cleaning out the attic?” Dean asked curiously. 

“Because, eventually, I’m going to be moving in there and making that my art studio. Sam already agreed to it, in case you’re wondering. I want to do it this weekend rather than wait because I plan on starting the sculpture I promised Sam when he goes back to work on Monday, and it would be easier with more space rather than trying to do it in the spare room where Sam might trip over something if he comes in or paint or clay might splatter and mess something up,” Gabriel explained. 

“You’re moving in? Like permanently?” Dean asked shocked. 

“Not yet. We’re not quite there yet. But eventually, yes,” Gabriel told him. “Might as well get a head start.”

That calmed the last of Dean’s fears about this relationship. If it was serious enough to Gabriel to already be considering moving in, not to mention coming here instead of dragging Sam elsewhere, he would do what he could to help. Just because he wasn’t worried about the relationship didn’t mean that he didn’t have other worries though. “Why don’t you just bring everything down and I’ll go through it and see what we need to keep and what to get rid of,” he suggested. 

Gabriel looked at him confused. That would be very inefficient. “Well anything that needs to be kept I was going to leave up there and just move it out of the way.”

“Well…see…the thing is…I’m not too good with spiders…or rats…or anything else that might be up there,” Dean admitted, only because he was already well past the point of tipsy. 

“You know Sam’s ears would have picked up the sound if there were rats or any other kind of animals up there. The spiders…I have to admit I’m not really a fan either, so how about I just toss a bug bomb up there in the morning and then we can get to work in the afternoon after airing it out.”

“Okay. Yeah. That works. I’ll be by about one to help you out,” Dean said relieved that Gabriel wasn’t going to make fun of him.


	6. Chapter 6

It was nearly midnight when Gabriel came stumbling in the door and immediately knocked over the coat rack. “Shit,” he cursed, and started swaying when he bent to pick it up. 

Sam laughed and walked over. “I got it,” he said, steadying Gabriel before bending down to pick up the coat rack and feel around for any coats that had fallen. “Did I get them all?” 

“Uh-huh,” Gabriel slurred. 

“You and Dean okay?” Sam asked worriedly. 

“Peachy. Was a few threatsh at first, but now we’re besht friends,” Gabriel tried to get out. 

Sam shook his head at the obviously drunk man. “Come on. Let’s get you to bed,” he said amusedly. 

“Mmm. Bed. Yes,” Gabriel said and Sam rolled his eyes, helping Gabriel to walk. Once they were in the spare room, Sam stripped Gabriel’s coat off and bent to help him with his shoes before giving him a deep kiss and Gabriel plastered himself tightly against Sam as he kissed him back. When he pulled out of the kiss, Gabriel said, “Still got a lot more clothes to go, Shammy,” Gabriel said suggestively. 

Sam just laughed and pulled away, gently settling Gabriel on the bed. “Not tonight, Gabe. Good night,” he said gently, and Gabriel didn’t push the matter just pouted a bit as he laid back on the bed and he was snoring before Sam even got the door closed behind him. Sam just shook his head and made for his own bed. He’d only stayed up so late because he was worried about Gabriel and Dean. 

The next morning, Sam made breakfast again, for the first time since that first morning Gabriel was there. He kept it simple and made oatmeal and toast, putting a glass of water and some asprin next to Gabriel’s bowl as he stumbled out of the room groaning. Sam smiled fondly in his direction, but didn’t say a word. 

Gabriel stopped short at the sight of the table, and he couldn’t help but smile at the hangover breakfast and the asprin. He must not have made too much of an ass of himself last night. He didn’t have the strength to ask just yet thought so he just sat down, swallowed a handful of asprin and started eating. It wasn’t until he was finished with his breakfast, and downing the last of the water, before he managed to speak. “Thank you, Sam. And I’m sorry.”

“You’re welcome,” Sam told him. “But what are you sorry for?” 

“For whatever I did last night,” Gabriel said. “I don’t really remember much, but I know I can be an ass sometimes when I’m drinking. That’s why I don’t drink often.”

“You were fine,” Sam told him. “I mean, yeah, you tried to get me into bed, but you did take no for an answer, so we’re good,” he assured him. 

Gabriel sighed in relief. Both that he hadn’t tried to force himself on Sam, and that Sam said no. “Good. I would hate for our first time to be like that.” He liked to think that, no matter how drunk he got, he would always take no for an answer, but truth was, no one could be a hundred percent sure of that until they were in the situation.

“So, I didn’t get much out of you last night other than there were threats but now you’re best friends?” Sam asked curiously, as they went to sit on the couch. 

Gabriel chuckled a bit. “Yeah, that about sums it up. He threatened to kill me if I hurt you. I threatened to break him if he interfered and that was that. We were very amicable the rest of the night. Speaking of…do you have any bug bombs?” Gabriel asked. 

Sam blinked for a moment at the abrupt change of subject, “Under the sink, but how is that a speaking of?” 

“Dean was gonna come by this afternoon and help me clear out the attic if that’s okay with you?” Gabriel asked. 

“And he’s freaked about the possibility of spiders. Gotcha. And yeah, that’s fine,” Sam told him. “Does that mean you’re wanting to…um…m-move in?” he asked as that thought struck him. 

“No,” Gabriel said quickly. “Not yet. I would definitely talk to you before making any concrete plans there. I just wanted to get your sculpture done before I go home, so I figured we might as well clear out the space for me to do it rather than wait.”

Sam felt simultaneously relieved and dismayed over the same statement. He didn’t think he was ready for Gabriel to officially move in yet, but he also hated the idea of him leaving. He quickly pushed the thought away. Maybe by the time Gabriel was leaving he would be ready for him to stay. There was no point in worrying about it until then. “That works,” Sam simply said. 

“Good. So, I’ll go toss the little bugger up there and then maybe we can spend the morning at the park while its doing its work?” Gabriel suggested. 

“Sounds like a plan,” Sam said with a smile. 

When Dean showed up around one he arrived to find Gabriel standing there with a long stick. “What’s that for?” Dean asked curiously. 

“Spider webs,” Gabriel told him. “I grabbed you one too.”

“But you did the bomb thing, right?” Dean asked nervously. 

“Yep. All the little buggers should be dead.” Sam just laughed at them and shook his head. “Just in case though,” Gabriel tossed him a can of bug spray, his own in his pocket. 

“Good man,” Dean said with a grateful nod as they pulled down the ladder and braved the attic. It didn’t take them long. There were a few boxes of pictures that Dean said he would take with him and go through and a few pieces of furniture, none of them looking nice enough to be called family heirlooms that Dean gave Gabriel the option on. He decided to keep most of it, the table for sculpting, the bookshelves to hold his art supplies, and the desk for the same. He would keep one of the chairs for now, until he moved his stuff from San Francisco and got his real art chair, but this one would do for the time being, even if it wasn’t as comfortable. Everything else they hauled outside and loaded in Dean’s truck to take to the landfill. He still had a crapload of cleaning to do, but he could handle that himself. 

By the time they finished they were both covered in dirt and dust, and Gabriel jumped in the shower while Dean headed home to do the same. He and Cas were going to come over for lunch tomorrow, though. Gabriel had offered to do burgers. 

Once Gabriel was clean he plopped down next to Sam on the couch, curling up to his side. “All went well?” Sam asked. “No evil spiders attacked?” he teased. 

Gabriel laughed. “Nope. Your brother’s ugly mug scared them all away,” he joked. “All’s good. We got everything moved out except some furniture your brother said I could use if I needed it. Still a lot of cleaning to be done, but I figure I can work on that tomorrow. It might be a little loud for while you’re working Monday,” Gabriel told him. 

“Thanks. Oh, and I work in my room, so as long as you’re quiet, you can have the run of the rest of the house,” Sam told him. 

“Sounds good,” Gabriel said with a grin, already making plans. That night, when they went to bed, Gabriel spent a little time sitting up and twisting wires to make the base of the sculpture, now that he had the design all planned before he went to sleep. The next morning, he hit the attic right after breakfast, wanting to have it all cleaned by the time he had to start the burgers, and he managed just in time to take a shower first, being covered in dust again. It wasn’t really surprising since no one had been up there for almost thirty years. It still had a lot of work before it would be a REAL art studio, but it was good enough to use for one sculpture. 

Lunch went wonderfully. Everyone was amicable, and it only took one bite for Dean to pronounce Gabriel’s burgers ‘the best in the world’. Sam assured him that, from Dean, that was high praise. He was something of a burger aficionado. Gabriel even managed to pull Cas out of his shell a bit over the course of the afternoon, and resolved to keep working at it. He could tell that Sam wanted to be close to Cas, but didn’t really know where to start. If there was one thing Gabriel was good at, it was pulling people out of their shells.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, Gabriel made a big breakfast and sent Sam off to work with a kiss before making his way up to the attic with the almost completed wire frame. He’d already moved the rest of his stuff up yesterday, so he just plopped down in the chair and finished the frame quickly before he began molding the clay around it. He tended to get lost in his work, so he had his phone alarm set to vibrate at four o’clock. By the time it went off, he had most of the base shape done, it just needed a little clean-up so he went downstairs to work on dinner, taking care not to be loud about it, even using plastic bowls instead of metal with the whisk so it wouldn’t make any noise. By the time Sam emerged from his room a little after five, Gabriel was putting two full plates on the table. 

Sam stopped in the doorway and tilted his head curiously at the smell of the food. “You cooked?” he asked. 

“Like I said. I like cooking. I tried to be quiet about it, though. Did I do okay?” he asked worriedly. 

“You did fine,” Sam said with a smile. His enhanced hearing had picked up Gabriel moving around the kitchen, but nothing that any normal person would hear or would be transferred over the phone. 

“Chicken’s at twelve o’clock, mashed potatoes at three, I wasn’t sure if you liked gravy, so they’re dry for now, green beans at nine o’clock, and biscuits at six. Butter is in front of you on the table.”

“Gravy would be great. Thanks,” Sam said wrapping his head around the large meal. This wasn’t the first time that Gabriel had cooked dinner, but this was the first time they’d had such a…homey…meal, and he had to admit he liked it. Gabriel poured some gravy over his potatoes before he sat down to eat. “What’s with the big meal?” Sam asked curiously. 

“Well, I just figured you’ve had to deal with quite a bit of stress today, so I wanted to take one thing off your mind,” Gabriel said with a shrug. 

“I do appreciate it, but don’t think you need to go to all this trouble,” Sam told him. “I’d be just as fine with a tv dinner or some hamburger helper.” 

“I know,” Gabriel said with a smile. “And I don’t know that I’ll go this involved every night. Just for your first day back, and I was in a cooking mood, so I figured I’d go nuts.”

“Well it’s very much appreciated, Gabriel. Really. It’s delicious,” Sam told him gratefully. “So, how’s the sculpture going?” he asked making conversation. 

“It’s going. Got the base almost done,” Gabriel told him. “How was work?” 

“Long,” Sam said with a sigh. “The only bad thing about taking a vacation is how much longer the days seem when you go back. On the plus side, I only got cussed out twelve times today, so I guess the holiday cheer is still going strong.”

Gabriel couldn’t help but laugh at that. He hated that Sam had to deal with getting cussed out, but he figured if it bothered him he wouldn’t be a telemarketer of all things. After dinner, Gabriel did the dishes and put the kitchen back the way it belonged. They spent the rest of the evening curled up on the couch listening to music and chatting, with a little kissing thrown in. Other than while Gabriel was drunk, neither of them made any move to further things physically, being very content to let the emotional connection grow first. 

The next day, Gabriel made his way back up to the attic when Sam went to work, and it didn’t take him long to finish the base and he pulled out the sculpting tools to start on the detail. It took him two days just to get the flowers right and then another day to carve the wolves running around the bottom. He still made dinner every night, but two of those nights had been simple one-dish meals when he was too involved in his work to quit in time to make a big dinner. Thursday night over dinner he asked Sam, “Is it okay if I monopolize your oven for most of the day tomorrow?” 

“Sure. What for?” Sam asked. 

“I need to bake the sculpture for it to harden,” Gabriel told him. 

“Is the oven big enough?” Sam asked, eyeing the oven apprehensively. 

“If I take the racks out, yeah. I made sure to measure it before I started.”

“Okay, good. Go ahead and have at,” Sam said with a grin. “Does that mean I’ll get it tomorrow?” 

“Yep,” Gabriel said cheerfully. “It’ll be ready and waiting after dinner.” There was more he had wanted to do to it, but that was more for his own aesthetic view than Sam’s. He’d wanted to paint it too, but he didn’t want to wait any longer to give it to Sam and since Sam wouldn’t be able to see the colors it didn’t matter much. He could always add the color later. 

As they were curled up on the couch after dinner, Gabriel thought of something else he wanted to add to it, but just the thought had his heart beating out of his chest. The next morning, he headed up, bringing the braille primer with him so he could make sure he got it just right. He used the dotting tool to make small holes in the clay before taking the shavings to make small balls that he could insert that would be raised above the surface. It took a little longer than he’d intended just because his hands were shaking with the very thought of giving it to Sam, but he managed in plenty of time to bake it before Sam was free. 

He almost pulled it back before he put it in the oven, but took a deep breath and took the plunge. As soon as the oven door was closed, it was out of his hands. Short of filing it down when it came out, he would get the message. While it was baking, he grabbed his sketchbook and charcoals and curled up in the corner of the couch sketching the rest of the day away. Most of the sketches were of Sam. One with him sitting on the couch, book in his lap, with a soft smile on his face. One of him and Sam sitting in the park with a picnic lunch. One of Sam standing at the stove making breakfast as he’d seen him that first morning. By the time those three were finished, the sculpture was done, and it was time to start dinner. Tonight, he would be making a big dinner again. 

He moved the sculpture into his room for the time being, to be presented after they ate, and he barely made it through the meal, thinking about Sam’s reaction. “Why are you acting all nervous all of a sudden?” Sam asked amusedly, halfway through the meal. 

“Just worried about whether you’ll like the sculpture,” Gabriel said honestly. 

“I’m sure I’ll love it,” Sam told him, but it didn’t really calm Gabriel down much. It wasn’t technically the sculpture he was worried about. It was the message on it. He couldn’t tell Sam that much though, so he just did his best to make it through the meal without making too much of an idiot of himself. 

Once they were done eating, Gabriel went and got it and put it in Sam’s hands taking a step back as he perused it. He set it on the table as his fingers traced slowly over ever line and detail of the flowers before moving down over the smooth sides before he found it. He sucked in a sharp breath as his fingers traced over the words. He trailed his fingers over them again to be sure it said what he thought it said. And then again, a third time before he abandoned his perusal of the rest and turned to Gabriel, pulling him into a long passionate kiss. When he pulled back for air, he whispered, “I love you, too.”


	8. Chapter 8

Gabriel sighed in relief and Sam said, “That’s what you were nervous about?” 

“Just a little bit,” Gabriel said, not moving from his place wrapped in Sam’s arms. 

Sam kissed him again. Soft and gentle this time. “I love you, Gabriel.” 

“I love you, too, Sam,” Gabriel whispered, saying the words aloud for the first time. 

Sam knew then that it was time. They were ready. He was ready. “Come to bed with me?” he asked in barely a whisper. 

Gabriel swallowed nervously as he said just as quietly, “Yes.” Sam pulled him into his room, and closed the door behind them as he kissed Gabriel again. Gabriel was the first to take the next step though as his hands slid up underneath Sam’s shirt rubbing over his sides and back. Sam took half a step back and started unbuttoning Gabriel’s shirt with shaking hands, only pausing long enough for Gabriel to pull Sam’s shirt over his head as his hands began to roam over Sam’s toned chest and stomach. 

Once Sam was sliding Gabriel’s shirt off his shoulders, Gabriel backed Sam up to the bed and they laid down slowly, Gabriel settling between Sam’s legs as their erections rubbed together, pulling moans from both of them. Gabriel’s lips slid off Sam’s and to his neck, kissing and sucking the soft skin as Sam’s breathing sped up and his hand tangled in Gabriel’s hair. “Oh, god, Gabriel,” Sam gasped as he bucked his hips up looking for more. “I’m already close.”

“Mmm. Me too, Sammy. S’okay…just let go,” Gabriel breathed out as he ground his hips down faster. They’d be able to last much better during the main event if they took the edge of first. This was a first for both of them, after all. Gabriel kept his attention on Sam’s neck until he felt them both spill over with gasping moans before he moved back to Sam’s lips for a long, soft kiss. Sam’s hands were still roaming over his body as Gabriel’s lips moved back to Sam’s neck before continuing down. He kissed and licked over Sam’s collarbones and then down to his nipples as their breathing started to speed up again.

While Gabriel was paying attention to Sam’s nipples, the taller man reached down and did the same, flicking and pinching and Gabriel was coming apart at the seams with whimpering moans. By the time Gabriel finished lathering Sam’s nipples with attention and kept moving down, they were both hard again. As Gabriel was dipping his tongue in Sam’s belly-button, his shaking hands moved to Sam’s pants, undoing them slowly before sliding them down and then off, stripping out of his own as well. As he settled back over Sam he took a steadying breath before licking a long strip up Sam’s hard length pulling a choked moan from him as his hand found it’s way to Gabriel’s hair. 

Gabriel was encouraged by the reaction and swirled his tongue around the tip before whispering, “Got lube, Sammy?” and then taking the head in his mouth and giving a hard suck. Sam gasped and bucked his hips up as he slid the lube into Gabriel’s hand that was gliding over his hip. Gabriel pulled back, choking a bit, when Sam thrust up, but he was soon back in place as he slicked his fingers up and moved one to Sam’s tight hole, pausing a moment to make sure Sam wouldn’t stop him before sliding it in, moaning around his mouthful. Sam squirmed a bit in discomfort until Gabriel found that spot that had him arching up off the bed and begging for more. 

Gabriel prepped Sam slowly and gently as he sucked him to the best of his completely inexperienced ability without getting him too close to the edge. When Sam was ready, he pulled his mouth off with a pop. “With condom or without?” he asked, still moving three fingers in him while his other hand stroked himself slowly, unable to stand it any longer. 

“W-without,” Sam breathed out, and then he whimpered as he found himself empty but not for long as Gabriel slicked himself up as quickly as possible and then was sliding in as slowly as he could manage. 

“Oh…god…Sam,” he choked as he felt the impossibly tight heat surrounding him as Sam’s legs found their way to Gabriel’s shoulders. Once he was fully in he managed to open his eyes and noticed the tears leaking from Sam’s. He leaned down and wiped them away. “Shit, Sam. I’m sorry. You okay? Do you wanna stop?” he asked worriedly, despite his body screaming at him not to dare stop. If Sam wanted to, he would tear himself away somehow. 

“No. I’m good. Just gimme a minute?” Sam gasped out. It did feel good, it just burned a bit at the moment. He was sure the pain would go away in a second. 

“Anything you need, Samshine,” Gabriel said forcing himself to keep still when all he wanted to do was thrust into him hard and fast. 

It felt like forever before, Sam nodded and said, “I’m okay. Just…go slow for a bit?” 

“Of course,” Gabriel breathed out as he began to draw out slowly before sliding back in just as slow and he nearly choked back a sob at how amazing Sam felt around him. “Oh, god. I love you, Sam.”

“I love you, Gabe. Always,” Sam whispered breathlessly, sliding his hand over Gabriel’s face and through his hair, and Gabriel leaned over the rest of the way for a soft kiss even as he continued the slow draw of his hips. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t keep it slow for long. Thankfully, it seemed like Sam was ready for more, because he was meeting every thrust with a lift of his hips, pulling Gabriel in deeper. Gabriel just barely had the presence of mind to reach between then and stroke Sam in time with his thrusts even as the sped up more and more and he could feel the coiling in his belly. As Sam spilled over, crying Gabriel’s name, that was the last straw for Gabriel who also choked out Sam’s name as his orgasm was pulled from him with so much force he nearly blacked out. 

Once they were spent, Gabriel slowly slid himself out of Sam and climbed up next to him, collapsing breathlessly beside him, curling up to his side. “Is this okay?” he asked hopefully. 

“God, yes,” Sam said tightening his arm around Gabriel as if to prevent him from ever moving. 

“Was…was that okay?” Gabriel asked worriedly. 

“That was amazing, Gabe,” Sam said leaning down for a kiss that only stayed short because neither of them could breathe. It was a while before they caught their breath and Sam asked, “Stay tonight?” 

“Absolutely,” Gabriel said with a blissful grin, snuggling closer to Sam’s side, as Sam pulled the blanket over them. “You know, the flowers in the sculpture have meanings too,” Gabriel mentioned as he trailed a hand over Sam’s chest and stomach. 

“What are they and what do they mean?” Sam asked curiously. 

“The tulips mean ‘declaration of love’, the rose of Sharon means ‘consumed by love’, and the corepsis…it means ‘love at first sight’ because I loved you the second I saw you,” Gabriel finished with a whisper. 

Sam grinned, pressing a kiss to Gabriel’s head. “The first thing I ever saw was your face in the mirror, but I knew then that if I saw every other face in the world, none of them could ever be as beautiful as yours. You were my first sight at all, and I loved you even then,” Sam said softly. Gabriel didn’t have words to respond to that and just turned his face into Sam’s shoulder, and Sam could feel the tears there, as he ran his hand through Gabriel’s hair as the other one rubbed gently over his back.


	9. Chapter 9

Gabriel stirred awake the next morning and instinctively burrowed deeper into Sam’s arm with a blissful sigh. Sam’s arms tightened around him, and he turned his head a pressed a kiss to Gabriel’s head. “I love you, Gabriel,” Sam whispered. 

“I love you, my Samshine,” Gabriel returned sleepily as he looked up for a proper kiss. Sam’s hand trailed down Gabriel’s side to his hip as he kissed him deeply. As Sam’s thumb rubbed soft circles on his hipbone, Gabriel could feel himself getting worked up again and apparently so was Sam as he found himself on his back on the bed, Sam leaning over him, trailing his hand down Gabriel’s chest and stomach to take his length in his hand. He wasn’t stroking yet though. He was ‘seeing’ as he always did. Just trailing light fingers over every inch, memorizing it, and to Gabriel that was even hotter than anything else and he was soon leaking in response. 

Sam’s lips trailed over Gabriel’s neck and chest, memorizing him in ways his hands couldn’t as he continued working his way down, pausing to lick and suck on Gabriel’s nipples before continuing his trek. As his hand moved down over Gabriel’s balls, Gabriel immediately spread his legs for him, and Sam couldn’t help but moan at the invitation. Still he needed to be sure. He slid his hand down, teasing his fingers over Gabriel’s puckered entrance. “Can I?” he asked hopefully. 

“Oh, god, yes. Please,” Gabriel gasped out, and Sam immediately grabbed the lube and slicked his fingers up, sliding the first one in as he licked over the tip of Gabriel’s cock and the discomfort of having something inside him was quickly forgotten in the pleasure of Sam’s lips on his cock. It didn’t take Sam long to find that sweet spot though and Gabriel let out a whimpering moan as his back arched off the bed. He managed to keep from thrusting up into Sam’s warm mouth by sheer will alone, remembering how that had felt as he babbled, “Yes, Sam. God. More. Please.” Gabriel hissed in pain as the second finger slid past his walls and Sam started to pull back. “Nononono. Keep…keep going, Sammy. Need you. Please,” he panted. 

Sam did go slow from there on out. As badly as he wanted to be inside Gabriel, he didn’t want to hurt him either. When he felt like Gabriel was as ready as he could get him, he slicked himself up and lined up. “Ready?” he asked. Being unable to see Gabriel’s face, he felt the need to make sure. 

“Yes, Sam. Take me,” Gabriel said breathlessly, and Gabriel could feel the burn as Sam slid in, and he could understand Sam’s tears last night because he could feel them leaking from his eyes too. The pain wasn’t unbearable or anything. There was just something about it that seemed to pull the tears from his eyes anyway. He’d known the first time would hurt, but it wasn’t so bad. There was plenty of pleasure mixed in there too as he felt Sam bottoming out and he felt so amazingly full. 

Once he was fully seated, Sam leaned down for a kiss, only then feeling the tears leaked from Gabriel’s eyes. He remembered what it felt like and was sure that he was just as okay as Sam had been, but he still felt the need to ask. “You okay, Gabriel?” he asked softly pressing a soft kiss to his lips. 

“Perfect,” Gabriel breathed out, reaching a hand up to slide through Sam’s hair. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Sam whispered as he tried to hold himself back from just pounding into the warm heat. “God, you feel so good,” he said breathlessly. He couldn’t stop himself from moving any longer. He just hoped that Gabriel was ready. He did keep it very slow though. Back and forth, experimenting with angles until he felt Gabriel tense and heard a gasping moan. That was enough to wreck the last of his control though as he picked up the pace, reaching between them to stroke Gabriel hard and fast in time with his thrusts as Gabriel begged for more. When he felt the tight clenching around his length as Gabriel spilled over his hand, he was a goner. He cried out Gabriel’s name as he blew and it was a good while before he stopped shaking enough to move and slowly slid himself out with a quiet, “You good, Gabe?” 

“Better than good,” Gabriel said breathlessly, pulling Sam in for a kiss as the taller man settled at his side. 

“Will you stay?” Sam asked. “I mean…for good?” 

“Absolutely,” Gabriel said happily. “I mean, I’ll have to go back for a few weeks at the end of the month and work on the two commissions I have lined up, but I’ll use that time to pack everything up, make arrangements on my lease and everything and then I’ll be back for good.”

“Okay. I can live with that,” Sam said blissfully as he nuzzled his face into Gabriel’s hair. 

“I would offer for you to come with me, but I’ll be pretty busy and won’t have much time for us to spend together,” Gabriel told him. 

“That’s okay. Maybe I can go for a visit with you some other time?” Sam asked hopefully. 

“You can count on it,” Gabriel told him, earning him a kiss in the process. They cuddled for a good while before Gabriel said, “I could use a shower. Join me?” 

Sam grinned and nodded, following Gabriel to the shower where they made love again, knocking everything over in the process. Once they were done, Gabriel huffed a laugh as he began to pick everything up and put it back in the right place so Sam could find it later. When they finally left the room, Gabriel’s eyes lit on the sculpture still sitting on the table. “So, you didn’t finish examining the sculpture,” he told him. “You can do that while I start breakfast.”

“Yeah, okay. We did kinda get a little sidetracked didn’t we,” Sam said with a chuckle as he went over and started running his fingers over. He started at the top again, now knowing about the different flowers Gabriel incorporated and what they meant, it meant so much more. This entire thing was the most amazing declaration of love that he could ever have dreamed of. He smiled and felt his eyes filling with tears again as his hands ghosted over the braille words on the base and he continued down. He spent a good long time tracing over ever bit of the scene played out on the bottom. 

By the time he finished Gabriel was putting breakfast on the table. After telling him where everything on his plate was, Sam asked about what he had missed last night. He knew that Gabriel must have had a reason for everything that he put in. “Well the wolves are because wolves mate for life,” Gabriel.

“And the snow on one side and the sun and grass on the other?” Sam asked, assuming the first side was meant to be snow by the large snowflake shaped icon he’d felt and the fluffiness of the ground. 

“They’re running from the snow into the sun because you brought light into my life from the cold dark place I was before,” Gabriel said blushing, and he took Sam’s hand when he reached out. 

“And you did the same for me,” Sam said softly, lifting Gabriel’s hand to his lips. “I may always be in the dark, but you’ve given me a warmth and joy that I never could have found without you. Thank you for taking a chance on me.”

“Thank YOU, Sam. For letting me in,” Gabriel said, squeezing Sam’s hand. After breakfast, while Gabriel did the dishes, Sam considered the best place for his gift before he ended up setting it on the end table that didn’t hold a lamp. The braille words were facing the couch so that when he was sitting there he could run his fingers over them as he pleased. Especially while Gabriel was gone, they would be a steady reminder that Gabriel loved him. That he held Gabriel’s heart and always would. Sam was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t even hear Gabriel’s steps as he came up behind him and jumped a little when he felt the arm wrap around his waist. “Sorry,” Gabriel said with a chuckle. He wasn’t used to being able to sneak up on Sam. 

“You’re fine,” Sam said with his own chuckle. “I was just thinking.”

“Bout what?” Gabriel asked curiously. 

“About how lucky I am,” Sam said turning to rest his head on Gabriel’s.

“How lucky we both are,” Gabriel replied turning up to give Sam a kiss.


	10. Chapter 10

Later that afternoon, Sam and Gabriel went out to take a walk around town. Gabriel was getting much better at leading Sam. So much so, that Sam didn’t even bother bringing his cane anymore. They made a stop at the art store at Gabriel’s request, and Gabriel immediately disappeared into the shelves, buying a roll of canvas and some of the textured paints that he’d read about. It would take some experimenting, but he would figure it out. The idea of Sam being able to ‘see’ his art was intoxicating. The first painting he managed like that would definitely go to Sam. Maybe he could open some kind of art museum for the blind. That was a nice idea. He would definitely have to look into that. He shook himself from his thoughts and headed up to the counter. He bought a ton of the paints, knowing that he would probably waste a lot before he managed to get it right. 

Most of the next two weeks he spent with Sam was with experimenting with them while Sam was working. After that first night they slept together, Gabriel moved out of the spare room and into Sam’s room, pulling some off-color comments and jokes from Dean. It took a bit of adjustment before Sam stopped grabbing into the drawers set aside for Gabriel for clothes, but he got into the habit soon enough. When Gabriel had to head back to the airport, it was a bittersweet day for both of them. It was one step closer to Gabriel moving in officially, but being apart for weeks would be hell on both of them. Gabriel promised to call every day, at least once a day. 

Gabriel kept his promise, calling every morning when he woke up, before Sam went to work. Then again at night before bed. In between calls, he kept himself busy working on the two paintings he was making for his regular clients, and managed to finish them both in less than two weeks before he started packing up his stuff. He’d had a few meals with Michael, who was very happy for him, but would miss him greatly. Gabriel promised to have him out to visit once he was settled. He also had a few nights out with his friends, saying goodbye and all. He held no illusions that they would have anything beyond the minimum of contact after this. Like he’d told Sam they were more the buddy type than lifelong friends. Not that he wouldn’t look them up anytime he was in town, but this was most likely it for the most part. 

When everything was finally packed up and ready to go, he’d given most of his furniture to Michael to store or give away or whatever he wanted to do with it, he called and rented a truck. It would be a long drive, but his art supplies alone would take most of the truck, and it was the easiest way to get it there. Michael surprised him with a voucher to allow him to buy a car, knowing that in small towns the public transit could be a nightmare sometimes. He called it a going away present to which Gabriel joked that paying him to go away wasn’t very nice. He’d made all the arrangements to skip out on his lease, and let all his local customers know about his change of address, and updated his website too. Mike helped him load everything up, and even Luke made the long drive from LA to help too. It was one thing when his brother was only a few hours away but him going halfway across the country made the lawyer more than a little emotional. 

Gabriel called Sam once he was on the road. It would take him at least two days to get there, assuming he stopped overnight like he had every intention of doing. If he was driving a car, he might have tried to make it through in one shot, but he wasn’t comfortable enough with the big box truck to take any chances. When he finally pulled into Sam’s driveway two days later, he didn’t care one whit about getting the truck unloaded. He just jumped into Sam’s arms and kissed him desperately and then they didn’t leave their room until morning. Dean and Cas came over to help him unload the next day. Sam took most of the boxes that would go in the main house, but Dean and Cas helped him get all his art stuff, which was most of what he’d brought into the attic. The potters wheel and kiln in particular were a nightmare, and even the large easel took some doing, but more because of its size than its weight. Gabriel mostly just set the rest of his art supplies up there to organize on Monday. He’d timed it to return on Friday night for a reason, after all. 

Once everything was unloaded, Sam went with Gabriel to return the truck and they spent the rest of the weekend wrapped up together, making up for lost time. When Sam went to work on Monday morning, Gabriel went up to the attic to start organizing everything. The only thing he’d done on Saturday was make sure the kiln and potters wheel was where he wanted them, just because they would be a bitch to move on his own, and because they would be too loud to move while Sam was working. 

Gabriel had brought some of his household stuff from his old apartment, things he didn’t really want to part with, and they made room for them, which took a bit of time for Sam to adjust to, but he managed. Over the next few weeks they settled into an easy routine. Gabriel made dinner most nights, but sometimes Sam would take over. Sam did most of the cooking on the weekends except when they had Dean and Cas over when Gabriel would make a big to-do of it. He had been back for almost a month before he finally had what he felt was a halfway decent textured painting and he decided to present it to Sam that night. 

After dinner, Gabriel grinned and said, “So, I have a surprise for you.”

Sam returned his grin. Gabriel’s surprises were always so perfect. “What is it?” 

“Wait here. I’ll be right back,” Gabriel said darting up to the attic to grab the painting before coming back and laying it flat on the table taking Sam’s hands and leading them to it. 

Sam sucked in a sharp breath as his fingers danced over the painting, taking in every detail. “How did you…”

“Well you seemed disappointed that you wouldn’t be able to see most of my work, so I went looking and found out they have these textured paints. It took a lot of experimenting to figure out how to get it just right, but I think I’ve finally got it,” Gabriel said proudly. 

“That’s us,” Sam said as he felt over the two faces. “…sitting on a beach?” he guessed as he felt over the waves. 

“Yep,” Gabriel told him as Sam’s hands reached the lines on the horizon. 

“At sunrise?” 

“Exactly,” Gabriel said with a grin. He knew that Sam liked to know the meaning behind things, so he explained. “The beach is the classic expression of freedom and peace and I’ve never felt as free or as peaceful as I do with you. The sunrise symbolizes the new life we’re starting together.”

“It’s beautiful,” Sam said choking up a bit, pulling Gabriel in for a loving kiss. “It’s perfect,” Sam whispered as they broke apart. “Thank you.”

“Making you smile is all the thanks I need, my Samshine,” Gabriel said brushing a hand over Sam’s cheek. “So I was thinking about something else that I’d like to get your opinion on,” Gabriel suggested hesitantly. 

“What is it?” Sam asked curiously. 

“Well it’s dawned on me through all of this that there are probably other blind people out there who don’t get the opportunity to appreciate art, so I was thinking I could maybe see about starting up some kind of art museum with things like sculptures or textured paintings like that. What do you think?” 

“I think that’s a wonderful idea. It would probably be better in a big city though, rather than here,” Sam pointed out. 

“I was researching the idea and there is one in New York, and DC, and LA, but that’s it in the US, so I think one right here in the middle somewhere would be good. Someplace like Dallas or Denver,” Gabriel suggested. 

“That would involve you travelling a lot,” Sam said sadly. He loved the idea, and he knew it was something that could do a lot of good, but he wouldn’t like being away from Gabriel so much. 

“Not really. I mean, I wouldn’t be running it at all. Short of deciding the location and the layout, I would hire someone for the day to day. I would just be here doing art and sending it to them. I would really like your input on everything too, so when I do travel, I’d want you to come with me. I mean, I’m picking up quite a bit, but you would be far better than me at helping me plan a layout that would be convenient and easy to access,” Gabriel told him. 

“Then yes. I think it’s an amazing idea, and I’ll help all I can. Won’t it cost quite a bit of money though?” Sam asked worriedly. 

“I’ve got enough in my savings to get things up and running for at least a few months. If we’re not breaking even by then, I’m sure my brothers won’t mind helping out for a good cause. They do a lot of philanthropy anyway, so it won’t be a big deal. If nothing else, they could help get the word out and we’ll take donations and everything, so I think we could do it.” He was rather ashamed to admit that before Sam he had never spent much time thinking about how blind people and people with other disabilities functioned in the world, and he was determined to rectify that. He saw a need and he intended to fill it, and if it gave him a whole new audience for his art then that was just a bonus. “It’ll take me a while to get enough pieces to justify starting a place, but once it’s running I’m sure other artists will pick up the call and we’ll be getting more in there.” 

“You’ve really thought this through, haven’t you?” Sam said with a fond smile. “Let’s make it happen.”


	11. Chapter 11

Gabriel spent the next few months only doing enough commission work to bring in enough money to pull his weight, but Sam refused to take it, telling him to put it in the gallery fund. They had decided to make it more of a gallery than a museum, allowing people to buy the pieces they liked the most, though some would just be for show. The rest of his work was getting ready for the gallery. He’d let his brothers know what he was doing, and even Ralph was rather impressed with the idea. He still thought Gabriel was wasting his life by doing art, but the idea of using it to help people with disabilities gave him a bit more respect for it, at least. 

Gabriel had almost enough art gathered to consider starting to look for a location before another thought struck him and he started on another private piece for Sam. The first one he’d given him had a place of honor on the wall in the bedroom hallway. Someplace Sam walked by all the time and he never failed to run his hands over it with a smile when he did. This one though…this one was going to be special. Perfect. It had to be. He soon learned that braille in paint was a little more difficult in clay, but it was offset by the fact that he was pretty much fluent in braille by now. He spent over a week getting it just right before he brought it down, shaking badly from nerves. He didn’t even bother trying to wait until after dinner. He knew he wouldn’t be able to keep anything down anyway, and he handed it over to Sam as soon as he left his room after work. 

Sam was used to offering his opinion on Gabriel’s art. Ever since he’d started working with textured art, Gabriel was always eager to hear his thoughts. As his fingers traced over his face, he started to wonder though. “Is this for the gallery?” he asked, not sure how he felt about having his face hanging in the gallery. 

“No. This one is for you,” Gabriel said, voice shaking nearly as much as his body. 

Sam realized how nervous Gabriel was and wondered why, even as his fingers continued to explore. The best way to fix it would be to figure out what had him so nervous and give the correct response. The last time he’d been this nervous about giving him something was when he told him he loved him through the sculpture he’d given him. Sam’s fingers found Gabriel’s face but it was much lower than he had expected and as his hands continued to explore, he sucked in a sharp breath as he realized the Gabriel in the painting was down on one knee and he traced over the ring in the painting and started to get an idea of what Gabriel could be nervous about. Sure enough, along the bottom were the words spelled out in braille, “Will you marry me?” 

Sam spun and grabbed Gabriel in a huge hug, spinning him around with a happy, “Yes,” before he crashed his lips into his boyfriend’s…no fiancée’s. “Yes, I’ll marry you,” Sam whispered as he pulled back, only to be pulled back into another kiss as he felt a ring slide onto his finger. It was a few moments before he realized that Gabriel had the ring engraved in braille too and he ran his finger over the outside. ‘To my Samshine; my light, my joy, my peace, my life. Forever.’ He had no idea how hard it must have been for Gabriel to find someone to do engravings in braille but that just made it mean so much more. 

The next weekend they threw an engagement party, and all three of Gabriel’s brothers came and got to meet Sam for the first time, and they all hit it off well. Sam could see what Gabriel had meant about Ralph. He was cold and distant, but not unkind for the most part. Sam could tell he cared, even if he had trouble showing it. Michael was very formal, but not nearly as distant, and very friendly. Luke was like a breath of fresh air though. He reminded Sam a lot of Gabriel with his warmth and openness. Gabriel had mentioned that he had a bit of a cruel streak, and Sam could believe it, but he was nothing but kind to Sam. Dean and Cas were, of course, there too, as well as some of Sam’s friends and some friends that Gabriel had made in the six months since they’d found each other. They had decided on a Christmas wedding, and Michael immediately offered to foot the bill. He told Gabriel and Sam to save their money for the gallery. The wedding would be his wedding present to them.

The wedding was only one of the big things they had planned. They’d decided that Dallas would be the best location for the gallery and Sam took a week off work in August, so they could look around for locations. Sam vetoed the first two places they looked at due to accessibility factors. The first one had a rather winding staircase that could be a challenge, and the second was too far from any public transit. He pointed out that not all blind people have family members willing to ferry them around, so they have to use public transportation more often than not. Finally, they found the perfect place. It was right near a bus stop, had a very open floor plan that they could modify to accommodate the pieces, and was large enough for a lot of them. Gabriel signed a one-year lease starting in three weeks which would give them time to get the floor plan designed before starting to make it happen. 

Gabriel also put out an ad for employees to help run the place. He wanted at least three. Two too walk the guests through and one to process any orders. He and Sam would take another week to come down, get everything set up, and interview people. They planned on having the grand opening labor day weekend. He and Sam spent quite a bit of time pouring over ideas for the layout before they settled on something that would be the easiest for people to navigate and wouldn’t involve a lot of extra construction, and most importantly, would be easy to adjust on the fly as they walked it, if Sam noticed any problems. 

At Sam’s suggestion one of the guides was blind, and could walk them through things they way they, and she, saw them. The other wasn’t, just in case they wanted someone to explain the colors or something like that. She did have a sister who was blind, so she was able to relate to them well. Once they got everything set up, both Sam and the blind guide walked it to check for viability and after a few adjustments they pronounced it perfect. Gabriel and Sam were present for the first weekend after they opened the doors to the public on Friday morning. They had gotten as much publicity for it as they could to spread the word and neither of them were surprised when a reporter showed up mid-afternoon on Friday, asking for an interview with Gabriel. 

Once that was done, the only big thing they had coming up was their wedding. The guestlist was much the same as it had been at the engagement party, except this time Gabriel’s father was actually planning to attend, as was Sam’s. Gabriel had met Sam’s father in passing, but John had showed little interest and Gabriel immediately hated him, but they supposed it was normal for him to want to be at his son’s wedding anyway. Gabriel was honestly more surprised about his father coming. He hadn’t spoken to him in almost ten years. 

The wedding went off without a hitch, despite the fathers’ attendance. Luke, since Michael had grabbed up the wedding as his gift, funded a two-week honeymoon in London. Their father had gotten them a toaster-oven, which rather than piss him off, made Gabriel laugh. He would have expected nothing less. The stilted congratulations he got, with Michael glaring at him from the corner told him all he needed to know. Michael had threatened him into coming and he didn’t really want to be there. Gabriel just thanked him, and thanked him for coming and let him ignore them the rest of the evening. 

John Winchester, due to the open bar, was soused by the time they finished saying their I dos, but Dean had him well in hand and kept him from making a scene. Well other than the blubbering one over Sam and Gabriel as he congratulated them and thanked Gabriel for doing what he never could, and making his son happy. Gabriel wanted to snap that he’d never tried, but had every intention of keeping the peace today if it killed him. Sam congratulated him for his restraint with a laugh once Dean steered John away. They were both more than over their father issues.


	12. Chapter 12

They had been married for more than five years before Gabriel brought up something he’d been wondering about for a while, but was hesitant to suggest for fear of hitting a nerve. “So, I was wondering,” he started as they were sitting around for dinner, and Sam looked at him curiously. “Well…with what happened to your eyes and all…wouldn’t it be able to fixed with that new corneal transplant thing they have?” 

Sam just shrugged. “Sure. Probably. But that surgery is very expensive, and insurance won’t cover it, so it doesn’t really matter.”

“But do you want it?” Gabriel asked. 

Sam sighed and put his fork down. “I’m sorry. I know all this is tough on you…”

“Oh no. Uh-uh. Stop right there,” Gabriel said firmly. This was exactly why he was afraid to bring it up. “This has nothing to do with me. I love you, Sam. Just the way you are, and I am more than happy. I love you. I love our life. I love it all. This isn’t about me, at all. I want what you want, Sam. I want to give you everything you’ve ever dreamed and if you want to see, I will make it happen. If not, that’s fine too. Whatever you want, I will be behind you a hundred percent.” 

“I…honestly…I don’t know what I want. I mean…this is all I’ve ever known. I’ve never seen any reason to consider more,” Sam said, nearly moved to tears by his husband’s assurances. He’d been worried, when Gabriel mentioned it, that it was getting tiring dealing with it. 

“But you know how much it costs. And you know that insurance doesn’t cover it,” Gabriel pointed out. Obviously, he had thought about it some. 

“Yeah, and as soon as I found that out, I stopped worrying about it. It’s not like we have fifty grand to throw around for something that isn’t really that important,” Sam told him. 

“I get that, Sam. Really. But I meant what I said. If this is something you want, I will make it happen,” Gabriel told him. 

“How?” Sam asked skeptically. He knew that the gallery had been doing well the last few years but not that well. 

“You let me worry about that. I promise that I won’t put us in a bind, or do anything dangerous or illegal. That’s all you need to know. You just need to decide what you want,” Gabriel told him. 

Sam nodded, not really sure what else to say, and turned his attention back to his dinner. Gabriel knew that he was considering it, and this wasn’t exactly something he could decide at the drop of a hat. It ended up being more than a week before Sam pulled him over to the couch, and sat him down. “I’ve been thinking about what you suggested. I think…I…I want to see the world the way you do,” Sam said with a soft smile, that was echoed by Gabriel as he leaned over for a kiss. 

“Then I’ll make it happen. Give me a few weeks to get everything figured out,” Gabriel told him. 

“There are things we need to consider though,” Sam said before Gabriel could get too deep into this. 

“Like what?” Gabriel asked. 

“Like…I don’t know how to read or write in anything but braille. I don’t know anything about colors or light or any of a dozen other things that I can’t even think of right now,” Sam pointed out. 

Gabriel reached up a hand to Sam’s cheek. “And I can help you with all that, Sam. You taught me how to see with my hands. Let me teach you how to see with your eyes,” he said softly, reaching his thumb over to grab the tear that leaked from Sam’s eye. 

The next day while Sam was at work, Gabriel forwent his studio and took a walk. He had some phone calls to make that he didn’t want Sam to overhear. “Gabriel?” 

“Hey Mikey,” Gabriel said with a grin. “I know I don’t usually call you during the day, but do you have a sec?” 

“I can make one. Hang on,” Michael said before waving his secretary over and asking her to hold all meetings for the time being. “Okay. I’m all yours.”

“Don’t let me keep you from anything,” Gabriel told him. “This isn’t anything urgent. It just needs to be done while Sam is working.”

“No, it’s fine. I have some time,” Michael assured him. He could be going over his notes for his next meeting in twenty minutes, but really, he knew them as well as he was going to at this point. He could at least find out what was going on. “What’s up?”

“Well…I don’t know how else to ask but just come out and ask…can I borrow fifty grand?” he asked quickly. “We can work out some kind of repayment plan, and I will pay it back. I just don’t think I could handle the interest rates that a bank would charge and it would involve taking out a mortgage on the house and if something happened we would lose it, but I can make payments, and I swear I will…”

“Gabriel!” Michael said desperate to cut off his brother’s babbling before he burst into laughter in the middle of his office. “Why don’t you tell me what you need it for first?” 

“It’s for Sam. His doctors said that new corneal transplant treatment could give him his sight back, but it’s super expensive and not covered by insurance,” Gabriel told him. 

“Okay, then yes. I’ll get you the money. We’ll work out the details later. I’ve got an appointment in ten minutes, but give me a few days and I’ll have it taken care of,” Michael told him. He never would have said no unless it was for something frivolous, and Gabriel should have known that, but he knew how hard it was for Gabriel to ask for help. He prided himself on his independence. Always had. He would never forget the time that he’d found Gabriel sleeping in an abandoned warehouse early in his art career, too stubborn to ask for help. To this day, Gabriel didn’t know that the painting he sold for five thousand dollars was to Michael, through one of his employees. 

“Thank you, Michael. Really. Thank you,” Gabriel said relieved. 

“Anytime, baby brother. I’ll call you later and we can work it out,” he told him. On his lunch break he made a few more calls to his other brothers. While he could swing fifty grand without making a dent in his savings, he wanted to give them the opportunity to help too, if they wanted to. By the end of the day, the three of them had it worked out, and came to an agreement between them on the repayment idea. 

Michael, knowing that Sam was working, and Gabriel wouldn’t be able to answer in the house, texted Gabriel to call him at two when he would have half an hour free. Gabriel sent back a quick ‘ok’ as he turned back to his computer to see about having the surgery scheduled. He got an appointment for the pre-surgery in two weeks where they would make the final determination and do the surgery within a week after that. He went back out to call Michael. “So, I talked to your other brothers and we are all going to chip in, and we are all agreed that there will be no talk of paying us back,” Michael told him. 

“But…I…I can’t…I don’t…”

“Use your words, Gabriel,” Michael said amusedly. “And keep in mind the word, no, is not acceptable.”

“I…th-thank you,” Gabriel said, feeling tears welling up in his eyes. “Thank you.”

“You should know by now that we would do anything for you, Gabby,” Michael said hearing from Gabriel’s voice how overcome with emotion he was. “If Dad hadn’t been an asshole and cut you off, you would have access to just as much as we do, and wouldn’t need our help. This is the least we can do for you. You want to give your love the world and we’ll back you all the way.”

“Thank you,” Gabriel said again, fully aware that he was sounding like a broken record, but too overwhelmed to say anything else. 

“You’re welcome, Gabriel,” Michael said with a grin. It wasn’t often his smart-mouthed baby brother was shocked speechless. “Now do you want me to send you the money or do you want to just have the bills sent to me?” 

“Either way,” Gabriel told him. “Whichever is easiest for you.”

“I’ll send you the money tomorrow,” Michael told him. “Now go give your husband the good news.”

“Yeah. Okay. I will. Thank you, Michael,” Gabriel said again before hanging up. He walked back home with a new spring in his step. Tonight would call for a huge dinner. It was a celebration.


	13. Chapter 13

When Sam came out to dinner, he immediately asked, “Veal Ragu? That’s fancy.”

“Well tonight, my dear Samshine, is a celebration,” Gabriel said cheerfully. 

“What are we celebrating?” Sam asked with a chuckle. 

“I’ve got you an appointment with an ocular surgeon the Wednesday after next, and then he’ll be scheduling your surgery.”

“What? Already?” Sam asked shocked. 

“Yep. So, make sure you put in for the day off,” Gabriel told him. “Probably be best to go for a few weeks off. They should be scheduling the surgery within a week of that appointment.”

“But…how?...and don’t tell me not to worry about it. Now that it’s happening, I want to know how you plan on pulling it off,” Sam told him. It was one thing letting it go when it was an idea, especially since he was pretty sure Gabriel hadn’t totally figured it out by then, but now it was reality. 

“I called Michael,” Gabriel told him. 

“You’re borrowing money from your brother?” Sam asked shocked. He knew as well as anyone how much Gabriel hated going to his brothers for help. 

“That was my original plan, but then Mikey called Luci and Ralph and they’re all chipping in and agreed to consider it part of my inheritance that Dad screwed me out of,” Gabriel told him. 

“So, they’re just giving us the money? No strings attached?” Sam asked incredulously. 

“Yep,” Gabriel said cheerfully, not letting on how much he hated it. If it was for anyone but Sam, he never would have considered it, but he meant what he said about giving Sam everything he’d ever dreamed of, and he would be damned if he let his pride stand in the way of that. 

“They…but…wow,” was all Sam managed to get out. After dinner, Sam grabbed his phone to call Michael and express his own thanks, followed by Luke and even Ralph. 

When the day of the appointment came, Sam was a bundle of nerves. His regular doctor had told him that the surgery would help, but his regular doctor wasn’t a specialist. What if the specialist thought differently? Gabriel was nervous for Sam too, but he refused to show it. When he got Sam to tell him what he was worried about, Gabriel just took his husband’s hands in his own. “Then we cross that bridge when we come to it. I know you’ve gotten your hopes up now, and I desperately hope it works out for you, but worst case scenario, you just continue on the way you always have, and I will be beside you every step of the way, no matter the outcome.”

“I just…I don’t want to be a burden anymore,” Sam said sadly. 

Gabriel sucked in a sharp breath. He thought they had this settled already. “You listen to me carefully, Sam Winchester. You. Are. Not. A. Burden. Period. End of story. Not to me. Not to anyone, and if that’s why you’re doing this, I’m going to call and cancel that appointment right now,” Gabriel said firmly. 

“No, don’t. It…it’s not why I’m doing this. Really. It’s just…the jitters and all. I heard you before, and I do want this. I want to be able to see for ME. I want to see your smile. I want to see the ocean, and the trees. I want…I want to see our children’s faces one day,” Sam faltered a bit at that last statement. He and Gabriel had never talked about children, but he wanted them badly. 

“Then that’s what I want for you,” Gabriel said, face lighting up at the mention of children. He had assumed when Sam hadn’t brought the subject up, that he didn’t want any, but now that he knew otherwise. “Let’s get through this, Samshine, and then we can start planning for those beautiful children you want to see.”

Sam breathed a sigh of relief. He could hear the joy in Gabriel’s voice at the idea of children, and somehow that change of subject calmed him down completely for his appointment. The doctor confirmed that the transplant should give him full sight back, much to Sam’s joy and they scheduled it for the following Monday morning. As they were driving home, Sam reached over and took Gabriel’s hand. “You’ll be there when I wake up right?” he asked hopefully. 

Gabriel rolled his eyes, but answered anyway. “Of course, I will be. Like I would ever be anywhere else.”

“Good,” Sam said relieved. “I want your face to be the first thing I see again,” Sam told him. 

“I’ll make sure of it, my Samshine,” Gabriel said softly. “Just remember, I’m a lot older now than I was then,” he joked. 

Sam laughed a little. “Six years is not a lot.”

“Not when you’re still in your twenties,” Gabriel said with his own laugh. 

Sam just shook his head. He had no doubt that his husband would still be the most beautiful man in the world to him, but he would wait until he had the proof before he tried to convince him further. Over the next few days, Gabriel realized that if Sam was going to be able to see now, he wanted the sculpture he made him to be finished. He managed to sneak it away for a few hours each night to do some painting, making sure it was in its place again before Sam woke up the next morning. 

When the day of the surgery rolled around, Gabriel had just managed to put the finishing touches on it, and he brought his sketchbook along to pass the time and keep him from getting even more jittery than he already was. Despite his jokes, he wasn’t really worried about Sam not finding him attractive or anything anymore. He knew that Sam loved him, no matter what. He was worried about Sam coming through it okay. It was a very safe surgery, but there was still a chance, however slim, of something going wrong. 

When Sam came out of surgery, Gabriel was right there at his bedside, waiting for him to wake up so they could take the bandages off his eyes and he could get his first real look at the world through his own eyes. The doctors had told them that his vision would probably be pretty blurry for a few months as his eyes adjusted, but to someone who had been blind his whole life, it wouldn’t make much of a difference. They’d also warned of headaches, so Gabriel had stocked up on asprin too. Sam would be staying for a few days, just to make sure there were no problems with the transplant, and Gabriel had no intention of leaving his side. 

Sam groaned a bit as he woke up. He was still pretty groggy, but the first thing out of his mouth was, “Gabriel?” 

“I’m right here, Samshine,” Gabriel told him, taking his hand. “How are you feeling?” 

“Okay. Little sore, but good,” Sam said. 

“You ready to get the bandages off or you want to wake up a little more first,” Gabriel asked. 

“I’m ready,” Sam said eagerly, and Gabriel nodded to the doctor that was waiting, who stepped forward to take them off. 

Sam had his eyes closed still, almost afraid to open them and see that it didn’t work, but once the bandages were off, he felt Gabriel’s warm hand against his cheek. “I’m here, Samshine. Open your eyes for me?” Gabriel coaxed. 

Sam slowly blinked his eyes open and sucked in a sharp breath. “Gabriel…” he breathed out, reaching up his hand to his husband’s face, running his fingers over it in the familiar way as if trying to confirm that this was the same face that he woke up next to every morning. “So beautiful.” Gabriel smiled softly, taking Sam’s hand in his and turning to kiss his palm. “I love you,” he whispered in awe. 

“And I love you, Sam. Always,” Gabriel whispered back, running his hand through Sam’s hair, as Sam’s eyes never left him. In any other situation, the staring might have unnerved Gabriel a bit, but he just sat down, taking Sam’s hand in his, pressing it to his lips every so often, and just smiled at Sam as he stared at him. 

“What color are your eyes?” Sam asked as he gazed into them. 

Gabriel chuckled a bit. “Who knows at the moment. My eyes are anywhere between different shades of green, brown, and gold at any given time. We should probably start colors with something a little less fluid than my eyes.”

It was hours before Sam could tear his eyes away from Gabriel, and then it wasn’t far. “You brought your sketchbook, right?” Gabriel nodded. “Can I see?” 

“Absolutely,” Gabriel said with a grin. “But a lot of it is of you,” Gabriel pointed out. “Why don’t we check out a mirror first, so you’ll recognize yourself.” 

“Yeah. Okay,” Sam agreed. He was rather curious to see what he looked like, now that Gabriel mentioned it. He had at least seen Gabriel’s face once before but he’d never seen his own. He was mesmerized by the handheld mirror that Gabriel handed him for a few minutes, tracing his hand over his own face much as he had Gabriel’s trying to translate what he was seeing to what he knew. 

“Now you can see how beautiful you are as well, my Samshine,” Gabriel whispered. Sam grinned and put the mirror away. 

“Okay. Sketchbook now,” he said cheerfully holding out his hand and Gabriel chuckled and handed it over. Sam took a good long time looking over each of the sketches. From him on the couch reading a book, to him sitting at the table with his fork halfway to his mouth, laughing at something, and dozens more before his eyes widened and he slammed the book with a bright blush on his cheeks. 

Gabriel couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “Sorry. Forgot that one was in there.” 

“You…you drew…that?” Sam stammered. 

Gabriel just laughed harder before he managed to say, “I drew you at all your most beautiful moments. Including those.”


	14. Chapter 14

The next few days in the hospital were spent with Gabriel starting to teach Sam letters and numbers in down times, when he could stop staring at things. His vision was still blurry by normal standards, but he could still get the general shapes if they were big enough. The best part was the joke that Gabriel had talked Sam into pulling though. When Dean stopped by to visit on Tuesday, Sam took one look at him and said, “Oh, god, Gabe. You were right. The sight of that is enough to make me wish I were still blind.” His words were belied by the grin on his face and the fact that he wasn’t taking his eyes away from Dean though. 

Dean just laughed as he cuffed Gabriel on the head on his way by, knowing exactly who was to blame for that comment. “How you feeling, Sammy?” 

“Great,” Sam said enthusiastically. “Amazing.”

“Good,” Dean said ruffling his hair. “Cas said he’d stop by when he got off work tonight, but I didn’t want to wait so long.”

“That’s okay. Thanks, Dean.” 

On the way home, Sam’s head was never still as he looked out the windows all around them, trying to take in everything at once. Once they were inside the house, Sam made a beeline for the sculpture that Gabriel had used to tell him that he loved him, turning it over in his hands as he looked at all the detail. After questions about the types of flowers and the different colors and fully inspecting the wolves and the whole scene on the bottom, he finally put it down and moved on to the painting by the door. The one where Gabriel had proposed to him. Over the next hour, Sam went around to all the paintings that Gabriel had done for him over the years, and inspected them with his new eyes, asking plenty of questions about the colors. Gabriel was doing his best to stick with the primary colors for the moment rather than confusing things with the names of the different shades. They could get more into detail later once Sam had the basics. “They’re amazing. You’re amazing,” Sam said in awe. 

Gabriel chuckled. “You might want to see some more examples of art before you proclaim mine the best.”

“I could see all the art in the world and it could never compare to the things you’ve made just for me,” Sam told him, pulling him in for a kiss. “Now, how about you let me see the rest of you,” he said suggestively. 

“Oh, dear god, yes,” Gabriel breathed out, pulling his husband into their room. 

It was a few more weeks before the subject of children came up again, and Sam was the one to bring it up. Gabriel was going to give Sam a little more time to adjust to the changes he already had in his life, but if Sam was ready then he sure as hell was too. The generally accepted way for same sex couples to have a baby was through use of a surrogate. Occasionally babies would come up for adoption, but given that most people had a tendency to wait for their switch with their soulmate to have sex, it was rare, and those babies were usually snatched up pretty quick. Same with the older kids that came through the system due to being orphaned or their parents being in jail or otherwise unable to take care of them, so surrogates were the way to go. 

There were surrogacy clinics and all, but a lot of people went to family first, and Gabriel was no exception. He didn’t expect much, to be honest, but he would take a shot. Sam’s family wasn’t an option because he just had Dean who was married to another man, but two of Gabriel’s brothers had wives, even if they weren’t particularly fond of him. Well, Meg had softened to him over the years since he’d ‘grown up’ but Dawn still hated his guts. He got lucky when Luke told him that Meg had offered and he thanked them both profusely. Meg, apparently, enjoyed pregnancy quite a bit and Luke called it quits after their three, so she was rather eager to do this for Gabriel and Sam. 

They flew out to LA for the implantation and decided to have her implanted with a mix of their sperm. They knew that genetically speaking only one of them could be the father, but they liked the idea of letting fate decide and not knowing for sure. Their son was born just over a year after Sam’s surgery, and they doted on him from the second he came into their lives. Luke and Meg were named as godparents, and when they decided on another child a few years later, Meg was quick to volunteer again, and they used the same method for their baby girl. 

Gabriel continued doing art for the blind, despite the fact that Sam could see, and he still kept his skills in braille up, as did Sam, just in case they were ever needed again. It was a good skill to have and they did still have a ton of braille books in the house to practice with. Gabriel enjoyed teaching Sam to read and write and did so with just as much patience as Sam had taught him how to use his hands. Gabriel had done a special painting at the birth of each of their children to hang in their rooms, and it was a good thing that Gabriel’s art career was taking off because they ended up having to build onto the house for a third bedroom. 

Dean and Cas never had kids of their own, but doted on their niece and nephew. John Winchester had died in a car accident about six months after Sam and Gabriel’s wedding, but once their first child was born, Chuck Shurley came back into their lives to some degree. He didn’t reinstate Gabriel’s inheritance, but he did create trust funds for his grandchildren. Only the fact that it was for the sake of his kids, kept Sam from telling him where to shove it. Gabriel told him that it didn’t matter though. The reason Gabriel wasn’t brought back was just because he didn’t want to admit that he was wrong by doing so. It wasn’t like they needed the money, and he still had the support of all of his brothers, so it didn’t matter. Sam tried to argue that it wasn’t the point, but he dropped it for Gabriel’s sake. 

Once the old man croaked though, Sam and Gabriel were surprised with a check. Gabriel’s brothers had taken their thirds, pooled them together, and split it into fourths. If their father wasn’t going to give Gabriel his inheritance then they would. Gabriel was moved to tears by the gesture, and Sam wasn’t far behind him. Sam still had to talk him into accepting it. Once both of the kids went off to college, Sam and Gabriel used that money to travel the world, stopping to visit all of their family often. Sam wanted to see everything though, so at least half of every year was spent travelling. They stayed home during the summers to spend time with their kids, and flew everyone out to LA for Christmas every year, even Dean and Cas who became honorary members of the Shurley family. They even spent two weeks a year in New York with Ralph. 

Sam got his wish to see everything. By the time they died, they had stepped foot in almost every country in the world and seen all the major sights. They’d even spent a week hiking through the rain forest. No matter how much he saw he always maintained that the most beautiful sight in the world was his husband’s face.


End file.
